Edward Yang: a Taiwanese independent filmmaker in conversation

by Shelly Kraicer and Lisa Roosen-Runge

from the introduction:

We recently took the opportunity to interview Edward Yang during the November 1997 retrospective organized by the Film Center of the school of the Art Institute of Chicago. We've supplemented the interview with paraphrases from Yang's introductions ot his films, from question and answer sessions, and from a panel discussion.

some quotes:

"I was the leader of the Taiwanese new wave. All these guys would just gather in my house, talking and laughing and drinking: Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wu Nien-jen -- just about all of them. You could just push open the door. Everyone just wanted to do similar things. We weren't allowed to, and no one was willing to give us any money to, but we shared all these idealistic thoughts."

"Every citizen in Taiwan has to face a question: what are we going to do in the future -- reunification or independence? No one wants to face it. A Brighter Summer Day is the background for what's going to happen in the future. I hope it helped."

"The situation in all of Asia is terrible now. It's not an economic problem, it's not a financial problem, it's not a political problem, it's a serious cultural problem. A Confucian Confusion is the first and so far only attempt at self reflection: at examining what is wrong with trying to head into the 21st century with a 4th century BC ideology."

The full interview is available in CineAction 47: Anything but Hollywood, distributed in Canada and the United States. Their mailing address is: 40 Alexander St., Suite 705, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4Y 1B5.